Grain Valley honors Fogle for stellar career

Tuesday

Oct 8, 2013 at 10:55 PMOct 8, 2013 at 10:55 PM

By Bill Althausbill.althaus@examiner.net

What type of impact did Grain Valley High School 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Cody Fogle have on Eagles football fans during a four-year career that ended with an undefeated 2007 regular season and The Examiner’s Offensive Player of the Year award?

When assistant coach Erik Stone asked his son what he wanted for his fifth birthday, Parker responded, “I want Cody Fogle to take me to McDonald’s.”

“I knew Parker was a fan, but I didn’t know he liked me that much,” said Fogle, who played a huge role in the Eagles’ success from 2003 to 2007. “In a small town like Grain Valley, a lot of the little kids watch you play and want to grow up and be just like you.

“I was that way when I was younger. I watched (2,000-yard running back and former Examiner Offensive Player of the Year) Seth Williams, and I wanted to be Seth Williams. That’s why I enjoyed visiting with the little kids after our games. I want them to see me as a good role model. I don’t ever want to disappoint any of them.”

Fogle never disappointed his coach or Eagle fans. He broke Jamie Scully’s career record for tackles and starred on the offensive side of the ball.

“God put Cody Fogle on this earth to play football,” said former Eagles football coach Forrest Rovello, who returned to Grain Valley High School to watch Fogle’s pre-game induction ceremony. “His motor never stopped running. I don’t want to make any of my former players mad – I coached better athletes – but I never coached a better football player than Cody Fogle.”

Fogle also wrestled and ran track and earned 10 varsity letters in the three sports.

“I wouldn’t even know I was in Grain Valley if they would have just put me in the stadium and not told me where I was,” said Fogle, who enjoyed a solid collegiate career as a four-year starter at safety for Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. “Everything has changed.

“The new concession area is really nice, and the field is unbelievable. Grain Valley has really grown up since I’ve been gone. This is the first time I’ve been back since I graduated in 2008.”

When asked about his most memorable game, he had a quick reply.

“We needed to beat Pleasant Hill my senior year to win conference and stay undefeated,” Fogle said. “Billy Creason and I went back for the second-half kickoff and I told Billy, ‘Whichever one of us gets the ball, we have to take it to the end zone.’”

Rovello remembers the play, as Fogle took the kick and returned it for a score. Creason would later score the game-winner on a short run from scrimmage.

“They were about to kick off,” Rovello said, “and I looked at Cleve (former assistant coach Marc Cleveland) and I said, ‘If they’re smart, they won’t kick it to Fogle.’ He was the type of player who always found a way to make the big play. He was sure fun to coach for four years.”